


Droplets

by TariSilmarwen



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Fluff, OC children - Freeform, some chapters get heated, zuko/mai and sokka/suki are alluded to but not a focus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-05 11:49:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21208043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TariSilmarwen/pseuds/TariSilmarwen
Summary: Collected prompts for Kataang Week 2009.  Seven small glimpses into the relationship between the Avatar and his Love.





	1. Mischief

**Author's Note:**

> Written LONG before Legend of Korra so the Cloudbabies are OCs. Mature rating is for a couple of later chapters, and some innuendoes.

The child's wide blue eyes gazed up at the shelf longingly. From his vantage point all he could see was the ornate wood paneling on the underside. But on it, somewhere, he knew, was a pale blue and white porcelain jar, roughly oval in shape, narrowed at the top where the lid sat delicately.

But the jar itself was of no consequence to him. No, he was interested in what was _inside _the jar.

Two dozen gooey slices of sugarpastry. Freshly baked. The smell had been tempting him the whole afternoon, ever since he'd come inside after playing and wandered into the kitchen to find his mother baking them. He dashed to his room to wash up—mother was very firm about everyone's hands being clean before they handled food—quickly splashing the water in his little basin across his palms and fingers and making sure to get his face too for good measure. He hurried back to the kitchen, shoes padding the wood and carpets dully, but by that time his mother had already finished up and left the room, having stowed the treats in the jar. The boy looked pitifully up towards the shelf.

Of all the cruel injustices to be four years old and short.

The youngster craned his neck at an awkward angle and pondered his dilemma. The shelf was wide and flat and affixed to the wall, situated about seven feet off the ground. Far too high up for his meager reach. Even when he jumped he could not even manage to brush his fingertips against the edge. The counters, something he was a little more skilled at clambering up onto, were of little use as the shelf hung out over empty space rather than over one of the cabinets.

_Wait a minute… the cabinets!_

The thought came to him like a sudden flicker of firebending. The cabinets were full of cooking supplies; pots, pans, recycled crates that had held fruit… he could make a stool!

He trundled over and pulled open one of the doors, dragging out one of the crates and several pots and pans. He stacked them carefully, the crate on the bottom, a deep round pot on top of that, a shallow pan, another deep pot. He stepped back and considered the stool for a minute, looking between it and the shelf, and then he added another pan, balancing it upright on the top of the stack.

Very carefully, taking a deep breath, the lad began to clamber up his make-shift ladder. He stepped up onto the crate, took hold of the handles on one of the pots. His knees bent and his small feet climbed up the narrow footholds on the edges. He reached the top and wobbled precariously for a terrifying millisecond before regaining his balance and looking out towards the shelf. He reached, straining.

It would figure after all that trouble his arms couldn't reach. He leaned out even further, face scrunching in effort and concentration. He could touch the edge of the shelf now but the jar with all its delicious pastry was out of range.

He huffed.

If he was a waterbender like his older sister he could've made himself an ice staircase or something and gotten the sugarpastry ten minutes ago.

As he leaned out even further, extending his arm as far as he could, the stack beneath his feet suddenly shifted. The top of the tower tipped over and went crashing down to the floor and he yelped as his feet dangled in the air. He managed to get his arms overtop the edge of the shelf and hung on for dear life as the pots and pans made a loud clattering sound. He cringed at the noise, knowing someone was bound to come investigate soon.

But his heart also leapt for now his goal was more accessible. Bracing his feet against the wall, the boy shoved and propped himself up so that his front half hung over the shelf. He gave a triumphant smile.

"Kenai!" his mother's voice barked sharply from behind him. "Get _down_ from there!"

His glee vanished. Eyes wide and desperate the boy grabbed for the lid of the jar, fingers just barely closing around the handle before he felt strong gentle hands close around his sides, lifting him away from the shelf. His wilted expression bade the jar a sad farewell as it slid from view.

Katara sat him down on the floor and turned him to face her, wiping the sweat and grime off his face with her sleeve. "You know the rule about climbing in the house!" she scolded.

The boy sniffled and nodded. "Yes mommy," he acknowledged submissively.

Katara tilted back, glancing curiously from the mess of scattered pots and pans on the floor to the shelf where her youngest had been clinging like a flying lemur moments before. "What were you doing up there anyway?" she asked.

Kenai rubbed his eye with the back of one of his hands. "I wanted a sugarpastry," he confessed softly.

The waterbender's eyes went to the jar and she laughed. "Oh sweetie," she said, standing to her feet. "If you wanted one you could've just come to me and asked and I would've gotten the jar down for you." She shook her head at her son as she lifted the lid off the jar. "I swear, you're just like your father."

"What about me now?" a new voice asked playfully. Katara turned with a smile to face her husband. Aang was fully swathed in voluminous Earth Kingdom robes, having just returned from a meeting with several high-ranking dignitaries. Katara thought the myriad shades of green and gold silks and brocades suited him exceedingly well. The diplomatic conference had gone on all day and though Aang's bright eyes and soft smile were the same as ever, Katara could see the tiredness in his face.

"Our son has inherited your mischievous streak," she told him, the corner of her mouth turning up wryly.

Aang shrugged. "Someone had to," he told her, grinning.

Katara returned the gesture before bending over towards her son's level. Kenai's eyes were bugging out with excitement and he reached out for the pastry in her hands. The waterbender held up her palm to stop him, holding the treat a little ways above his head.

"Ask politely," she admonished.

Kenai dropped his arms and clasped them behind him, giving her a pleading face. "Please can I have a sugarpastry mommy?" he begged.

"That's my boy," Katara crooned, lowering the treat to him. The child's eyes lit up as he took it and immediately began scarfing it down. His mother patted his head affectionately, mussing up his hair. Kenai munched contentedly as Katara picked him up by the waist and moved to give her husband a welcome home hug. His strong gentle arms encircled her waist as hers wound around his back. Kenai looked up briefly from his chewing, mildly unruffled by their affection and the heavy sleeves suddenly surrounding him.

"How was the meeting?" Katara asked, pulling back a little from the embrace.

"It went about as well as it could have," Aang replied, sighing wearily. "The room was really hot though, and these robes don't really breathe that well. I kept wanting to bend some cooler air into the room."

Katara adjusted herself to get a better hold on her son, then traced a line of gold-thread embroidery in Aang's tunic. She lifted her eyes to his with a half-lidded, sultry look. "If you'd like, we can go out to the back garden and I can…" She brought her face close to his, breathing on his skin with her whisper. "…help you _cool off,_" she murmured.

His eyebrows went high up on his forehead and he wiggled them at her. "Was that a come-on?"

She gave a small shrug. "Perhaps," she hedged.

"You _naughty_ girl."

Katara cupped his jaw with her free hand and brought his lips to hers for a long, deep kiss, which he happily returned.

Kenai looked back and forth between his mother and father, a tiny remaining sliver of sugarpastry still in his small hands, feeling very confused.

Fortunately the implications flew straight over his little four-year-old head and his parents were allowed to continue their mischief undisturbed.


	2. Skin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Could be considered a follow-up to Mischief but it's vague enough to happen pretty much anytime in their relationship after they've gotten together and gotten married.

His warm hands running down her bare back, tangling in her hair and massaging her gently. Her arms around his strong chest, her lips on his cheeks, jaw, lips, everywhere. His breath cool and tingly on her face as they caressed and cuddled each other. Katara's palms rested on the back of his head, on either side of the line of blue tattooing that ran all down her love's back.

She lived for moments like these. Moments where she and Aang could just be together, loving each other, while the world and all its troubles and cares faded away. Just to tune out her tireless worries and endless responsibilities for a few hours and just be with him, be close to him, holding him and letting him know in breathless murmurs how much she loved him, needed him, believed in him. Aang was her whole world and only in moments like this did she feel she could truly stop to appreciate and wonder at the beauty of that world. In no short time the reality of the larger world outside Aang and Katara's smaller one would come forcing its way through the door of their sanctum, demanding their attentions and thrusting them back into the mundane, the ordinary, the everyday occurrences of life, dispelling the magic and mystery that always seemed to hover over them in private intimacies like this.

So she made the most of it while she could. Her body pressed earnestly against his, lips seared kisses anywhere they touched. His embrace enveloped her, surrounding her in a cocoon of affection, and his roving hands clutched at her neck and back, fingers scraped gently down her skin.

She exhaled contentedly. They drifted a little ways apart, almost subconsciously, in order to look up and gaze into each other's eyes.

Katara loved looking into Aang's eyes. The soft gray orbs were like velvet depths she could fall into and roll around in. She loved the way they seemed to shift color in different lighting. And she loved how much emotion could be contained within a single look, a single glance. Years ago, when they were crossing the Serpent's Pass it broke her heart how lifeless and cold his eyes became, when the brightest soul she'd ever known had dimmed its light out of anguish. Aang's eyes were a portal into his soul and by now Katara knew every inch of it, could read his feelings and moods—even thoughts—like a scroll.

Written on every page of the scroll in Aang's eyes now was love. Endless, eternal, and unconditional. And in her heart she could feel the same love welling up and warming her from within.

The warmth in her heart grew as Aang's face stretched with a lazy, blissful smile. Her favorite smile. Her love clutched her close and whispered sweet affections to her.

And then his skin was against hers once more, and his mouth was sealed over her own and Katara felt the beauty of their private world swirling around her like a strong wind.

Soon this moment would be over, and they would have to separate and attend to their duties and the needs of the larger world.

But for now they were together, and that would quite suffice.


	3. Reunited

It had only been two months since she'd last seen him. Only two, but for her it seemed forever. Despite Sokka and her father's reassurances that they could handle things without her, Katara had felt obligated to go with them in joining the restoration of the Southern Water Tribe. Aang had expressed the desire to seek out the last of the Air Nomad temples in the east, but had been willing to wait on that to come with her, until his new duties as Avatar were pulling him away in every direction, to all corners of the world. Pockets of Fire Nation resistance to the new order, rebuilding efforts in various Earth Kingdom cities damaged by the war… In the end it was decided that the company should split ways and Katara reluctantly bade her love goodbye and watched him fly away on Appa before boarding the ship with her family.

Katara paused a minute to rest and wipe the cold sweat from her brow. Despite the frigid temperature, she was feeling muggy and overly warm inside the layers of clothing and furs she'd bundled up in. She pulled off her mittens and slipped her arms out of her heavy overcoat, setting it off to the side. She also put down the hood of her lighter undercoat.

There. That felt much better.

As she tugged her mittens back on she stepped back to admire the construction going up all around her. Arches, columns, and towers were slowly forming, rising up steadily towards the icy southern sky. They were working on a mirror image of the Northern Water Tribe. They were building a city. As long as she could remember there had never been a city in the South Pole. She felt exhilarated to take part in the raising of one.

Refreshed from her short break, she straightened and called back to her team. Currently she and her small group of waterbenders were running sealant duty. As other benders formed ice blocks and workers stacked them, moving them into place on top of each other, Katara and her team doused each level with a thin layer of water, soaking the ice blocks through and freezing them solid, so that they would hold in place and the walls of the buildings would be immovable even in the strongest of blizzards. The workers had finished laying another row, and the children had just brought them a dozen more buckets and barrels full of water, so now it was time to get back to work.

"Ready?" Katara yelled, raising her hand in preparation. She felt the telekinetic hold of her bending latch on to the water in the closest barrel. The benders in her group moved into position.

Katara brought her arm forward.

"And_—heave!"_

_-_ATLA-

When their tasks were finished, the foreman dismissed them all for a break. Katara took the opportunity to head for base camp at the foot of the new city. Fifteen or so large open tents were scattered on two levels of ice shelf. The shelf ran through the middle of camp, dividing it just about in half, with some tents on the higher part and some on the lower, at sea level. Stairs had been bent into the ice at regular intervals for easy travel between them. Katara ducked into the main tent in search of a cool drink and a small snack. Sokka was there, along with several foremen, bending over some blueprints on a table.

He glanced up briefly when she came in "Oh, hey Katara," he greeted. His eyes rested back on the prints. He nodded towards the mail slots. "Aang sent you another letter," he told her.

Reversing her course Katara headed eagerly for the mail slots. The attendant smiled at her as she came and stood in front of them, searching. When she found the scroll she was looking for she pulled it out of its slot, breathing heavily. The holders were made of ornate light balsa wood, tinted green, distinctly Earth Kingdom.

Aang had been sending her letters regularly since their separation. He would tell her of his exploits, of various tedious political maneuvers he had to deal with and all the ways that Momo would get into trouble. It always helped to ease the ache she felt being away from him, at least for a little bit.

Katara cupped the precious scroll in her hands and walked to other side of the tent to the low benches where a heavily wrapped shivering bundle that was currently passing for Toph was seated. The earthbender had arrived yesterday afternoon for a visit to see how things were going. Katara planted herself on the other side of the girl.

"You okay Toph?" she asked in concern.

Her face was barely visible under the fur collar of her coat. "Oh j-just f-f-fine!" she said through chattering teeth. "I'm s-s-still f-f-freezing my b-butt off and unable to s-s-see but other th-then I'm j-just peachy!" she exclaimed.

Katara patted the girl on her shoulder. "I'll get you another blanket," she told the earthbender, standing and crossing the tent. She picked up a wool comforter off a stack and returned, wrapping the warm material around Toph, who shivered a little less with the extra layer. Katara sat back down and opened up her scroll, taking in the beautiful calligraphy of Aang's words as he recounted another job done, extolled his everlasting love for her, reassured her they would soon be together again. Sighing, she rolled the scroll back up and tucked it into her belt.

"T-t-twinklet-t-toes still s-s-stuck in th-that negotiations th-thingy with the r-r-renegades?" Toph stuttered out.

"No," Katara explained wearily. "He's done with those but a couple other things came up. He says he has one more thing to do before he can leave Omashu and start heading south to see us."

"T-t-too bad," Toph sympathized. "C-c-coulda used Appa's nice warm f-fur to h-h-heat up," she mumbled.

Katara heard a low mutter. Sokka was still bent over the table but she recognized that it had been his voice.

"Not to mention Katara would finally stop _moping,_" her brother groused under his breath.

Katara felt herself becoming indignant. "Excuse me?" she demanded hotly, crossing her arms.

Sokka looked up in surprise. "What?" he dodged innocently. "I wasn't saying anything."

"Sokka…" Katara groaned.

"Seriously Katara, I think you're hearing things," he insisted.

The waterbender lifted about a fistful of snow from a large drift behind her and sent it sailing through the air towards her brother. The impromptu snowball smacked him upside the head, instantly losing its spherical form and dripping down his neck and into his hood.

"Hey!" he protested loudly, jerking upright and swatting at the powered ice particles at the back of his head. He stumbled away from the table and shot her an angry glare.

She smirked. "What? I didn't throw anything," she tossed back at him.

Sokka bent down and started scooping snow off the floor. Katara got to her feet and ran to the open side of the tent, where the make-shift railing that kept them from toppling off the short drop to the lower ice shelf was. She grinned and grabbed the rest of the drift with her bending. The pile leapt up into the air and started moving on a collision course with her brother. The foremen and mail attendant edged away from Sokka and out of range nervously.

Suddenly Katara heard something. A low bellow from something high above or far away. It sounded animalistic in nature and in fact it seemed very familiar to her.

Her eyes widened in recognition.

_No way…_

She dropped the snow and whirled around to look. Ignoring the yelp that came from behind her as the drift flopped rather inelegantly down upon Sokka, she darted to the railing, peering out towards the sky. She couldn't see any… There!

Her eyes spotted the unmistakable silhouette of Appa dropping slowly in wide circles from the air and her heart gave a leap of joy as her eyes zoned in on the figure driving him.

"Aang!" she cried happily. She put a hand on the wood and vaulted over the railing in one graceful movement, landing heavily on her feet in the snow. She staggered to her feet, bursting into a run almost as soon as she'd regained her balance. Around her she could hear excited whispers. The workers called out the news to each other and their voices darted about the camp like birds.

"It's the Avatar!"

"Look there! In the sky!"

"Is that the air bison?"

"Lady Katara is running to meet him! It _must_ be him!"

"It's Avatar Aang!"

Katara paid the exclamations no mind. She could barely hear them, in fact, over the deafening pounding of her ecstatic heart. She was elated, no overjoyed! She felt as though her lungs would burst from happiness. Ahead of her the sky bison hovered to a stop, circling overhead one more time before finding a landing in a clear spot free of tents. The figure riding on him stood up, bundled up appropriately for the climate in thick Water Tribe coats but unmistakable in its identity. Aang flashed her an exhilarated smile as he slid down Appa's side to the ground.

"Aang!" Katara called again, breathless, propelling herself forward and throwing herself into his arms. He caught her deftly and swung her around in a wide circle, laughing. He set her back down with a quick kiss as a chorus of 'aww's came from a group of women to their right.

"I guess you must've missed me," he chuckled into her hair, eyes sparkling.

"More than anything," she told him softly, holding him gently, feeling the warmth of his body underneath their thick winter clothes.

He pulled back, reaching into the pocket of his coat. "I brought you something," he said. He withdrew a beaded necklace with a dangling pendant. The beads alternated between intricately carved wood baubles and semi-precious stones. The pendant was framed in silver and held a light-blue gemstone, smooth and round to the touch and etched with the symbol for air. "Courtesy of the vaults at the Eastern Air Temple," he explained as he handed it to her.

"Oh Aang…" she breathed, taking it in her mittens gingerly. "It's _beautiful_. But…" Here her smile dimmed. Her eyebrows scrunched curiously. "I thought your letter said you were still held up in Omashu."

He shrugged. "Well I was… for a little bit. Ran into some clearance issues for Appa, but Zuko took care of it. Which is to say," he added in a conspiratorial whisper, "he had Mai throw knives at the gatekeeper until he let us through."

Katara laughed, picturing the scene in her mind.

The Avatar let his hands drift down to rest at her waist. "And I wanted to surprise you," he told her seriously, expression earnest. "I know how much you've been wanting to see me. I missed you a lot too." He looked towards the glittering white peaks of the construction. "The city looks beautiful."

The waterbender blinked back the sudden moisture stinging her eyes. She tucked the necklace into one hand and leaned forward to hug him again. "I'm so glad you're here!" she exclaimed.

He clasped his hands underneath her hood. "I wouldn't have skipped this for the world," he assured softly in her ear.

"Aang! Good to see you again buddy," Sokka said as he came over, the remnants of the snow drift still clinging to his hair and clothes.

"Heat!" Toph cried, hurtling forward past all of them and burying her face in Appa's fur.


	4. Secrets

"So after the theater, d'you want to just walk around the city for a little while?" Aang asked her, tying his sash. He let the ends hang loose once he'd knotted it and made sure his dark brown tunic was on straight and free of lint.

Katara stood behind him, finishing up with the frogs on her dress. "Sounds good," she told him, slightly distracted. She bit her lip, wondering if she should tell him now or after the date. She adjusted her sleeves one more time.

Aang was digging around for his shoes now. Katara took a deep breath, summoning her courage.

"Aang?" she voiced.

Her husband's face popped out from around the closet door. Though an adult now, his features had lost none of their boyish charm. "Yes?" he asked, his smile wide and open, gray eyes bright.

Katara chickened out. "Do you remember that time you were riding the elephant koi a few weeks after we met and you couldn't find your pants at first when you came back in and you looked and looked everywhere and only got them back when I pointed to them hanging over a low tree branch?" she blurted.

He blinked, surprised at the question. "Uh… yeah?"

A flush of crimson colored her cheeks and she gave a sheepish smile. "Well um… the reason you couldn't find them was because I kinda… hid them," she confessed, pressing her pointer fingers together shyly.

Aang was silent for a minute. "Oh," he acknowledged blankly. His brain appeared to have died and left him in the dark about what to say. "Um… so… that was you?" he managed finally.

Her blush deepened, turning her almost as rose as the flower in her hair. She laughed nervously. "Yeah. I never told you this but… I really liked looking at your tattoos."

He blinked a few more times then shook off the catatonia and scrunched up his face at her, lowering his eyebrows.

"Why are you telling me this now?" he asked, peering at her like she would sprout another head at any moment.

"No reason!" she dismissed quickly. "Just thought you should know."

He put up his hands and backed away. "_Oooh_-kay then. Thanks for letting me know. I guess." He ducked back down into the closet and located his shoes.

Katara put a hand over heart to calm herself down. _Come on girl, you can do this_, she mentally encouraged. Exhaling heavily she spoke up again. "Actually, there _was_ something else," she told him.

Aang reemerged from the closet, hopping on one foot and tugging his shoe onto the other. "Go ahead," he grunted. "I'm listening." He managed to get the shoe on finally and turned to face her.

Katara fidgeted nervously. "Do you remember that time we bent the clouds together in Aunt Wu's village?" she asked.

_Oh boy_, Aang thought. Where was _this_ one going?

"Well…" His wife clasped her hands together in front of her, beaming with a strangely content expression. "I'm going to have a little cloudbender," she said.

She knew the moment the realization dawned upon him. His eyes lit up and he gasped. "Wait—so you're—?"

She nodded.

His fist pumped. "YES! Katara that's _wonderful!"_ he yelled, rushing to her and spinning her around in his arms. She swayed a little dizzily as he placed her feet back down. He planted a quick peck on her cheek before rushing from the room, true to form, to share the news with everyone. She shook her head, picking up her fan and heading after him.

Aang had already burst into the next room, running straight to the bed where Sokka lay slumped and sprawled across the sheets, clothes rumpled from the long day, one arm draped over Suki, who was sleeping soundly next to him. He shook the Water Tribe warrior on the shoulder, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Sokka! Sokka! Wake up!" he said. "I'm gonna be a daddy!"

Sokka groaned. "Go away Aang. You can tell me about your daddy later," he muttered half-sleepily.

Aang had already left the room and moved on the next one, his enthusiasm not yet abated. "Zuko!" he called. He reached the door and flung it open. "Zuk—never mind," he said, quickly shutting the door again, cheeks staining red. He looked back down the hall towards their room. Katara was coming up to him, looking slightly worried. He sent her a nervous, embarrassed grin.

"He's, uh… _indisposed,_" he explained, gesturing with his thumb at the door.

Katara looked confused.

"With Mai," he clarified.

"Oh!" Katara realized, covering her mouth with one hand as her eyes went wide. She reached out and took his hand, pulling them both a good ways away from the door. "Anyway," she coughed, changing the subject. "Aang," she said, looking him in the eyes, "I know you're really excited but I was hoping we could keep this a secret. At least until tomorrow, when we can make a formal announcement. Can you bear to wait until then?" she implored.

He glanced at her stomach anxiously and then nodded. "All right Katara. For you I can keep the secret a few more hours," he agreed.

"Good," she said, leaning in to kiss his cheek. "Now," she said, smiling, straightening and taking his hand again, "Are we headed out or what?" she inquired.

He slipped his arm through hers and guided her out to the door. As they passed through the front room, Toph's voice piped up from the couch she was reclining on, legs crossed, idly bending her meteorite bracelet into different shapes in one hand.

"Congratulations Twinkletoes. I'm sure you and Miss Sweetness will make fine parents."

"It's a secret Toph," Katara admonished sternly. "You're not to tell anyone until we make the announcement tomorrow."

Not looking up, she drew the fingers of her other hand across her lips in a zipping motion. "My lips are sealed," she promised.

Aang gripped the handle in a steady hand and opened it for his wife. As she went out, he looked over his shoulder quizzically at Toph. "What are you doing all the way out here?" he asked.

Toph stopped futzing with her bracelet, putting an elbow on the arm of the couch and pulling herself upright. "Are you kidding?" she exclaimed in disbelief. "I could hear Zuko and Mai's heartbeats miles away. Not to mention the vibrations I can feel coming through the floor," she said, pointing down at the tile. "I've felt 'em before and I know what they mean and I'm not going anywhere _near_ that room until the noise dies down."

The Avatar grimaced. "Ugh, sorry I asked. Too many details," he said, turning to shut the door.

"Nothing's a secret with me," Toph reminded him, resuming her former position.


	5. Passion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thar be closet sex shenanigans in this chapter. Aang and Katara are most definitely adults for this.

Watching Earth Kingdom dignitaries argue was, quite frankly, very boring. Especially since they'd only called him to oversee and mediate the discussions—Aang had taken absolutely no part in the debate and indeed, the only time he'd spoken up at all was to get everyone's attentions (rather loudly and dramatically) and make them quiet down. If the talks had been about something more important, he would've played a more active role, but no, the dignitaries were having the most petty disagreement regarding the _specs_ of a new building they wanted to put up as a war memorial. To Aang's unbiased outside point of view, any way they wanted to build it would suffice, as the land in question was free and clear of existing structures and had room enough for practically anything. For some reason though, certain groups were _really insistent_ upon having _specific certain measurements_ and further groups were, well… not.

Consequently at the first recess they called (after a tedious three hours of hankering), he tapped Katara on the shoulder, whispered suggestively in her ear, and the two of them slipped out of the meeting room and flitted furtively down the halls until they found the nearest dark closet.

The door closed behind them and they were instantly upon each other.

Hot hands brushed over hot skin, wet kisses trailed down necks, over shoulders, behind ears. Fingers tangled in hair, tongues battled for control. The small space filled with the scent of their sweat and passion. They paused only long enough to breathe, to untie an obi, to unbutton a shirt, to slip off a shoe. Articles of clothing fell away easily enough, despite their insistent affections. They had just managed to strip down to their unmentionables when abruptly the door opened.

"Oh!" a startled middle-aged servant exclaimed in surprise, flushing crimson and averting his eyes quickly. "A thousand apologies Avatar Aang, I did not mean to interrupt!"

"That's okay," Aang assured him, generally unperturbed by the disruption. Katara on the other hand looked mildly annoyed.

"I will leave you and your lady be," the servant mumbled embarrassedly, moving to shut the door again. Before he could close it, Aang put a hand on the door to stop its movement.

"Actually," the Avatar said, "that's not necessary. What's your name?" he asked politely.

The servant blinked and hesitantly answered, "Qiang sir."

"Well Qiang, I have a favor to ask you," Aang told him. Katara, who had been growing increasingly put out from the intrusion, tilted her head curiously at this. Aang didn't notice, busy trying to put the servant at ease with his genial smile. "Could you stand guard outside this door and make sure nobody else comes in? And uh…"—he scratched behind his ear—"…call us if the recess is over and they send out a search party for us or something?" the young man requested.

Qiang thought this a very unusual favor (and quite possibly very uncomfortable given what it appeared he had caught the two doing) but who was he to argue or say no when the Avatar asked him so cordially and gentlemanly? Besides, it simply was not his business to care about who was making out with who in closets. He nodded succinctly and Aang let him shut the door.

"Good idea," Katara complimented, quite pacified. Aang had merely been making sure they wouldn't be interrupted again.

Aang smiled and reached around behind her to wrap his arms about her waist. "Now, where were we?" he asked playfully.

Eyes snapped closed as their lips mashed against each other's once again, bodies pressing together and hands groping to remove the last of their clothing...


	6. Spirit

Aang couldn't quite explain it, but his connection to Katara ran even deeper than anyone knew.

He suspected it had something to with his heart chakra. Long ago, when he'd been trying to clear it, in order to master the Avatar State, he'd learned that love was a form of energy. Like energy, it couldn't be created or destroyed. It was simply reborn, transferred into new forms. It was almost like an element actually. Specifically water. Water could be taken from one form and turned into another, from a solid to a liquid, from a liquid to a gas. Love was the same way. Only with he and Katara, it was like taking a vast ocean and making a single beautiful ice bridge with it, for the love that had been transferred from one state to another in his heart had been the love he'd felt for _the entire Air Nomad race._

Reborn of a love so powerful, _from an_ _entire extinct nation of people_, his love for Katara gave him a special kind of spiritual bond with her. It was how she was able to affect him while he was in the Avatar State. It was how he could always tell she was in danger, no matter how far away she was. It was how her belief and hope in him could always reach across the distance to give him encouragement and strength.

It was like they could read each other's souls.

Aang was pretty sure their connection was even strong enough to last past death. That was why he promised Katara with all sincerity that if he went first, he would come back to overshadow and comfort her with his spiritual presence. Even if she wouldn't be able to see him, she would feel him through their bond and know he was still there, loving her. Katara for her part, had promised to do whatever it took to make sure he could find her in the Spirit World should she be the one to depart first.

So strong was their love, so completely were their souls knitted together... they were truly one, he mused. In body… mind… and spirit.


	7. Destiny

Gran-Gran had said once that their destinies were intertwined. Katara was only beginning to realize how right she'd been.

To think—the Avatar, the hope of the nations, the last chance for peace and an end to the war, the only one who could defeat the Fire Lord and restore balance to a chaotic world, to think that so great and grand and important a person had been found by _her_. Her, small, young, inexperienced little Katara, the only waterbender left in the South Pole. The only one who still believed.

Had her faith been rewarded? Had the hope she still carried in her heart despite the years of war played some part in bringing about the Avatar's return? She had found him practically in her own backyard after all.

The more she thought about it, the more it staggered her, amazed her. She and Sokka had been right there, _right there_, in the exact spot they'd needed to be for the currents to snatch them off their course and steer them straight to the iceberg that held Aang. The fact that she just happened to be a waterbender, the _only_ waterbender and an incredibly powerful one at that, had chosen to get upset and unconsciously let loose with her bending _right there, right then_… would Aang have even been found if she and Sokka hadn't been there?

She was convinced the currents were directed by Fate that day, that some unseen force of destiny had brought her to the Avatar, brought her to Aang.

And then he woke up and looked into her eyes and he loved only her.

It felt wrong. Someone so great and important to the world should have an equally great and important lover already chosen for him, someone high and noble who would play as big a part in saving the world as he would. She couldn't fathom how she could possibly deserve him or be worthy of him. She had assumed that he and she were only destined for friendship. That her own love story would be something quite different. Not boring, not certainly, but definitely not intersecting with Aang's.

But it also felt _right_. For as she slowly grew to realize, it was Aang who could be the powerful bender envisioned for her. It was Aang who could, someday, be her husband, be the lover foretold for her. Struggling to come to grips with seeing him in this new light, she felt herself invariably, irresistibly, wondering what it would be like. And thus, her feelings for him grew and blossomed until it was undeniable that she was in love with Aang, honestly, and truly in love with him.

Fear and uncertainty gnawed at her. What if she were wrong? What if her hopes proved unfounded and the war was lost? What if Fire Nation succeeded and young man she thought could be her destiny died? What was her future then?

In the end, her fears had proved unfounded. The war was won. Aang came back and her confusion faded away, and she knew that he was truly meant to be with her.

In the days after the war, she also could not deny that she had been thinking about the reverse; that she, also, may have been chosen. That Fate had picked her out of all the women in the world, to be the Avatar's love. So many tiny details were just right, at the perfect time, in the perfect place. Her dreams and desires to learn waterbending, giving him a reason to take him with her. Her gentle encouragement, giving him the inner strength he needed. Her patience and passion, defending him, helping him master waterbending quickly. Her care for him, bringing him back from the brink every time he went into the Avatar State. Her healing hands, bringing him back from the dead.

There was no way it could be plainer. It was him that had been chosen for her and…

It was _her_ that had been chosen for him.

Her doubts dispelled, she went out onto the veranda overlooking the great city of Ba Sing Se, the great city that _they_ had saved, together, and in front of what she thought might be the most beautiful sunset she'd ever seen, she reached for Aang and embraced her destiny.


End file.
